A new #1

To mark its 125th anniversary, the Royal Belgium Football Association has announced new branding and a new crest. The goal of this project was modernization. Bring Belgian football and its tied associations (the Red Devils, Red Flames, and 1895 Belgium Official Fan Club) back into modern football through an evolution of its brand. 

Much of this brand has yet to unfold yet, so I’ll keep my comments solely to the new crest — it works. Is it the craziest, best thing I’ve ever seen? No. But it never wanted to be that. It’s a fresh take on the traditional crest and keeps the iconic parts of its crest’s history: the crown, the flag, and the wreath. The mark scales well, is ownable, and feels regal (fitting for the new #1 of global football). I especially like the sleekness of the all gold mark — it gives flexibility for different color variations and applications.

My one picky criticism (for now) would be the proportional scale of the crest on the kits. The mark’s simplicity makes it great for logo purposes, but on kits, it feels almost too spacious. The crest ends up looking a bit bulkier and empty compared to other kits. This could very well be my bias towards the look of intricate crests on kits, but regardless, it’s still a solid evolution of the Belgian crest.

But a crest isn’t a brand. Stay tuned for more rolling out in November.